After taste of defeat, Banks vows to return to the top of Class 4A softball in 2015 (Photos)

For most teams, a rebuilding season typically means a string of lopsided defeats, a last-place finish and several more years before a playoff appearance becomes a realistic goal.

For Banks, this year's 'rebuild' equated to a one-run loss in the semifinals rather than another state championship.

"I heard a lot of people over the winter saying, 'Gosh, what are you guys going to do next year?' " Jenny Compton said. "If you look at it, it was basically an entirely new team. It was a different third baseman, a different second baseman, a different pitcher, a new outfield.

"The only places we really stayed the same were short, first and catcher. Everything else was new."

"When you play a really good team, those little, tiny, minor details can amount to something much, much bigger," Compton said.

Despite coming up on the short end of the contest, Banks produced what Compton feels will go down as two of the more memorable postseason highlights from the program's recent run of success.

In the fourth inning, with Henley leading 1-0, Hornets coach Bobby Mick went for the jugular, inserting senior Olivia Pizano to bat for No. 9 hitter Kayla Herr with two outs and runners on second and third. Banks junior Hannah VanDomelen carved up the pinch hitter with a series of offspeed pitches, stranding two in scoring position and keeping her team within striking distance.

"(Pizano) wasn't even close to hitting any of those pitches," Compton said. "Hannah dominated that hitter in a way different from what you normally think of a pitcher 'dominating' a hitter. Instead of overpowering her with speed, she threw offspeed and changeups and got the strikeout, which was huge."

Minutes later, sophomore MaKenna Partain followed VanDomelen's infield single with a two-run homer to give Banks a 2-1 lead. Henley reclaimed the advantage with two unearned runs in the bottom of the frame, but Compton said few things can match the euphoria of watching Partain's drive sail out of the park and realizing that Banks, however briefly, was on top.

There was little suspense for Partain, who said she knew it was gone the moment she connected.

"Let's be honest, I could feel it," she said. "I was like, 'Oh, that's out!' It felt really good."

Partain's blast accounted for Banks' only scoring until junior Madison Seed drove in the third run with a two-out, two-strike single in the seventh. Molly Hammond, who delivered two sharp singles in the final game of her Banks career, just missed tying it with a liner down the line a few pitches later. Hornets senior Kelly Scott bounced back to induce an unusual 6-5 putout to end it.

There were plenty of tears as players emerged from the visitor's dugout following the loss. Compton pointed out that every year, only one team gets to finish the season happy: Either you're disappointed because you missed the playoffs, or you're disappointed when you get knocked out.

"The last couple years we were fortunate enough to realize the ultimate goal," she said. "It just so happened that this time, we weren't on the lucky end of it.

"Now we're facing the reality that most teams face every season."

Looking at the big picture, coach and players agreed it would be impossible to characterize the season as anything less than an overwhelming success.

"I tease Jacob (Pence, the Banks athletic director) about that," Compton said, laughing. "We better get some home games next year."

Banks' 15 road wins were the most in Class 4A. It all came after the team graduated four key players last season, including ace pitcher Kaylin VanDomelen.

"People doubted us, and a lot of people were against us the entire season, but we overcame that and made it to the semis, which I think is a pretty great accomplishment," said Hannah VanDomelen, whom Compton praised for working hard throughout the offseason to fill her sister's mighty big shoes in the circle.

"Oh, for sure," she said. "It's really just a matter of what they choose to do in the offseason and where they spend their time.

"I think with anybody, if the effort is there, there's always room for growth and places you can improve. There's really no boundary to how good you can become."

Partain said the way this season ended will serve as extra fuel for 2015. Incredibly, before the loss in Klamath Falls, Hammond was the only Banks player who had experienced elimination in her high school softball career.

"That's definitely going to be one of our mottoes next year," Partain said. "We don't want to feel like we do right now."

VanDomelen, though, argued it's important to remember the feeling, no matter how painful it might be.

"I said something about it in the dugout after the game," she recalled. "I said, 'Listen to them cheering. I hope that hurts, because we should be doing that right now.' And it's true. Yeah, it went their way this time, but I believe in my team, and I think we could have come out on top.

"This better motivate us. For me and a lot of us, next year is our last year to make a statement. I want three in the book."